The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-06-04
Wonders of the Heavens.
Mr.. GarFett p. seryiss' Second LectuI
Before the Chauiauquans.

Before the Chauiauquans.
From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Early in the spring Mr.. Garrett 2. Ser
viss, writer and lecturer upon astronomical
subjects, gave lecture upon "World Max
ing" before the members of the Brooklyn
Chautauquan circles On May %, Mr..
Serviss gave his second lecture before the
Brooklyn Chautauquans. His theme was
the wonders of the heavens as revealed by
the telescope.
With the aid of the stereopticon the
lecturer took his audience upon an exeur-
sion into the creations of space and showed
them some of the marvels to be found
within the ken of the telescope. 1t was
birds eye view, but no personally con-
Quoted" party of tourists ever saw so many
wonders in so short space of time.
The first station upon this solar journey
was the sun, and as it was approached Mr..
Serviss attempted to give his fellow trav-
elers some adequate idea of how big the
sun is. The earth's mass, said the guide,
weighs six sextillion tons. How big is
sextillion? Well, if man were to stand
on the torch balcony of Bartholdi's statue
and throw SO gold pieces into the bay at
the rate of one every second, it would take
him thousands upon thousands of years to
get rid of six sextillion dollars. Wall
street might afford quicker method of
getting rid of fortune, but not much. If
the sun were put in balance it would re-
quire 100000 earths, each weighing six
sextillion tons, to tip the beam. 1t may be
safely concluded, therefore, that the sun is
a pretty big thing. The power of his at
traction was next measured, and it was IL
Illustrated by Mr.. Serviss in this way The
earth moves through space at the rate of
nineteen miles per second. A cannon ball
will only travel one mile while the earth is
travelling eighty miles. 1t is the power of
the suns attraction which holds this whirl
ing sphere in its orbit. 1t has been esti-
mated that were the suns attraction to
cease suddenly, l. would require bar of
the finest steel 1000 miles thick to hold it
in its orbit. The suns attraction, however,
is more powerful than steel rod of that
size would be- 1t holds all the planets of
our system in their places. Itgoes further
than that, and reaches out into the depths
of space beyond our system, and acts upon
other suns and is acted upon by them. 1t
collars vagrant comet and drags it within
its kingdom, and, after compelling it to do
homage at its feet, sends the visitor off
again into the realms of space but when
the wanderer is hundred million miles
beyond our systems boundaries the bride
of the sun is still upon its neck, and his
masterful hand restraints its wonderings.
Mr.. Serviss next took up the subject of
sun spots and gave very interesting ac-
count of those phenomena. He explained
how vast unleaping masses Of matter break
forth from the suns mass, tearing
holes in the suns envelope, into which
a dozen worlds could drop like billiard balls
into corner pocket. Pictures were also
given of the appearance of the sun at the
time of total eclipse Other views showed
the red flames of burning hydrogen, leaping
up thousands upon thousands of miles above
the suns surface The relation of sun
spots to electric storms in our atmosphere
was also indicated. Comets were the next |
things considered. These Marco Polos of
the universe, as the lecturer called them,
come wondering in from the realms of
space, ike ambassadors from other systems,
to do homage to the sun. 1t is not until
they come within the range of the suns |
more powerful influence that the flaming
tails begin to appear. The comet circles
round the sun always with the tail turned
e. Al. .,,I c-oy,, f1,f
sun still with the streamers turned away.
like a supplicant backing out of the pres
ence of king. The extreme tenuity of
comets mass shows that they are composed
of the himsiest solar materials. 1t was
pointed out how the phenomena of meteors
are connected with comets. Mr.. Serviss,
as became an adventurous sky pilot, took
his travelling party still further afeld, and
showed them that Sirius, the brilliant dog |
star; is sun from 800 to 1000 times
larger than our king of day, proving that
the great lord of our solar system is a very
petty chieftain of small clan when COM
pared with many of the monarchs of the
starry realms. Even the great Sirius is a
small beer of fellow by the side of some
Ol HIS cOuipccIo- ANcAl nC OOlu dDOul lnc
dark stars-the burnt-out suns that are in
visible to the telescope, but whose presence
is demonstrated BY the perturbations which
they cause in the orbits of their more bril-
liant and easily discerned fellows. Double
and triple stars and their beautiful con-
trasts Of color were also shown upon the
screen Some idea was given of how thick
the stars are in the heavens by showing
constellation which to the naked eye pre-
sents only half dozen stars, but when the
telescope is turned upon them the space is
seen to be as thiekly strewn with stars as
leaves in forest. The marvellous nature
of the nebule was also explained and illus
trated Mr.. Serviss spoke for two hours
and was listened to with rapt attention by
the audience. His vivid and graphic de-
scription Of the wonders of the heavens
called forth frequent and hearty applause.
A multitude Of eyes will narrowly inspect |
every part Of an eminent man, consider
him nicely in all views, and not be little
nieased when they have taken him in the |